Clothes weinger



T. H. MARS.

CLOTHES WRINGEB.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. I9. 1920.

1-,f.108,819.l mmm... 7,1922h 2 SHEETS--SHEET I.

75?? V1. f -1' T e SQ y T. H. MARS.

CLOTHES wmNGEn.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. I9, |920.

1,408,819, y Patented Mar. 7,1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

52 lve/22312 `ty mechanism which may :imm COMPANY, or cnicaeo, atraerorifice.

GIS, iSSG-NGR T FEDERAL ELECTRIC S, i REIEt-ATLQN GE LLXNOIS.

CLOTHES' VVIN Laces-i9.H

To all whom t may concern Be lt lnown that l, 'lli-reinas H. Mans, acitizen of the United ttates and a resi dem of Chicago, in the county ofCool( and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Clothes `lfllringers; and I do herebydeclare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of referencemarked thereon, which iorm a part of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in clothes wringers, and consistsof the matters hereinafter described and more particularly pointed outin the appended claims. One of `the objects of. the invention is toprovide a clothes wringer embodying a sailebe easily and quicklyactuated, to simultaneously release the tension of the compressionsprings at both ends of kthe wringer rolls.

Another object of the invention is to proA duce an improved constructionwhich consists .of but a few parts so arranged with respect to eachother as to provide a simple, strong andetcient clothes wringer.,

rlhese objects, as well the several advantages or the invention, willmore fully appear as l proceed with my specification.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of a clotheswringer embodying my invention, the same being illustrated as lused inoonnection with a. power-operated, domestic washing machine. i

i Figure 2 is a top plan view thereoli.

.Figure S is a transverse, horizontal section through the wringer on anenlarged scale,

the plane ot the section being indicated by the line 2%3 of Figure 1.

`Figure 4l is a longitudinal, vertical section through the clotheswringer, with parts shown in a position changed trom that illustrated inFigure 1, the plane of the sertion being indicated by the line l-l oil2Figure i?, Figures 5 and G are transverse,` vertical sections throughthe clothes wringer in ilanes indicated bv the lines 5--5 and 6 8respectively, ot Figure l.,

llligures 'Tiand S are "fragmentary detail views ill ustrating the means'for locking and unlocking the tension applying' devices tor the wringerrolls.

Speeication of Letters llatent.

Ilfa'tented Mar. "7, 1922.

Application filed February 19, 19207. Serial No. 359,980.

Referring now in detail to that embodinient or the invention,illustrated in the accompanying drawings, l0 vindicates as av whole, awringer. frame which includes spared apart, upright, hollow endstandards c,

ii-11, a bottoni horizontal connectingv bar 152 and a stationary topcross bar 13. Preferably as kshown herein, the standards 1l-11 and thebottom connecting bar 12, are cast integral, together with a hollow opentop, heini-spherical shell 14 located at the outside bottom end of thestandard 11. Said shell includes an annular, horizontal base, which isadapted for bearing engagement upon the top end oi" a bearing sleeve 15,on the trame 16 or apower driven, domestic washing' machine,

Through said bearing sleeve 15, extends an upright shaft 17, tinuouslyin one direction by a suitable gearingsuch as is described in myco-pending application tiled onFebruary 19, 1920, and which bears SerialNo.359,9?9. i

Elie top end of the shaft 17 extends into the shell 1li and has therein,an upwardly facing bevel gear 18, a hemisphericalV top cover 111-closing the open top of said shell.

'ihe upright hollow standards 11 11a are preferably rectangular in planand each includes `upright liront and, rear side walls 19, inner andouter end walls 20, and an intermediate wall 21 parallel with the endwalls to divide each hollow standard into an inner gear compartment 22and an outer compression spring compartment 23. Each inner end wall 2Ohas near its top end, a dove tail groove 24:, into which lits thesimilarl shaped ribs v25 on the ends oft the top cross bar 13` saidcross bar having a flat 'top wall laand iti-ont and rear dependingflanges 13b (see Fig. Suitable means are provided for locking this crossbar in place against movement after ythe wringer has been assembledl asa whole. All of the end and intermediate walls of said standards withthe exception ot the outer end wall ot the right' hand standard 'l1d asshown herein, have on their rcrtical median lineA slots 2'? which extendtroni a point near their bottom ends tothe top thereof.

lihis construction provides for the insertion ol? both the bottoni andtop wringer rolls 2c--29 and their respective shafts `50 and 31, saidshafts extending through the which is driven con-V slots 27 as` shown inFigs. 3 and 4. Each roll shaft has fixed thereto in the innermostcompartment 22, intermeshing gears 32 and 33 respectively, of the usualkind... The bottom wringer roll shaft 30 which Vis the longer, bears onthe end and intermediate walls of the standards and has one end (theleft hand end as shown) which extends into and also has bearing betweenthe shell 14 and its cover 14u. Within said shell, on said shaft 30 issecured oppositely facing bevel Vpinions 35-35 which mesh with oppositesides of the gear 18 before mentioned, on the top end of the uprightshaft 17. Each gear 35, has oppositely facing clutch teeth 36, which areadapted to be engaged by a clutch collar 37 keyed to the shaft 30 so asto be capable of being moved into engagement with either of itsassociated teeth on said gears orinto a neutral position between saidgears. Shifting movement is imparted to this collar by a handle 38,mounted in the cover 14a. Thus by shifting the collar 37, the wringerrolls may be stopped or started and be caused to run in either directionat the will of the operator.

Tension is applied to the wringer rolls by means ofthe followingConstruction: In each outermost compartment of thel standards 114-11, isan inverted U-shaped yoke 40, which straddles and bears upon vthe endsof the top wringer roll shaft 31. The bottom ends of the upright legs ofsaid yokes have horizontal flanges 41 into which are threaded rods 42(see Fig. 6) on the top ends of which is slidably mounted a cross bar43,

there being expansion coiled springs 44, surrounding each rod betweensaid cross bar and said bottom flanges. f

In the top surfaces of said cross bars are provided recesses into whichproject the bottom ends of compression screws V45 which have threadedbearing in and near the outer ends of lever plates 46--47 respectively.Each lever plate has at its outer end a pair of ears 48 which arepivoted on a pin 49 arranged at right angles to the wringer rolls `andmounted in outwardly projecting ears 50 at the top end of the outer endwalls of standards 11, 11a.

Each lever plate is of a length, equal to one-half the length of thewringer frame, so that when said platesV are in their normal position,wherein they lay iat upon the top cross bar 13, their inner ends willabut each other. Said lever plates are preferably shapedto conform withthe plan area of the wringer frame and on the inner end of the leverplate 46 is provided flanges 52 which overhang the abutting end of theother lever plate 47 Near the inner end of the lever plate 46 is pivotedto swing about a vertical axis, a locking stem 53 which includes ahandle` 54 at its top end for actuating the same. The bottom end of saidstem 53 carries a foot,.0r key, 55, spaced from the lever plate adistance substantially equal to the thickness of the top wall of the bar13, said foot including a radial extension or toe 56. A spring 57 asinterposed between said foot and the bottom surface of the lever plate46.

In the top wall 132L of the bar 13 is a keyholeshaped opening 58,through which the foot 55 extends after which the handle 54 may berotated to bring the toe 56 to engage the underside of saidtop wall 1.3ato lock said lever plates to the said top bar. Tith the lever plates46-47 thus locked in position upon the top bar 13, the screws 45 areactuated to exert a downward pressure on the cross bars 43 on the rods42, which will, through the springs 44 on"k said rods, transmit pressureto the yokes through the bottom flanges, so asto bear upon the topwringer roll shaft and force the top roll into snug contact with thebottom wringer roll.

When the shaft 15 is rotating, it will, when the clutch 37 is inengagement with either bevel pinion 35 on the lower wringer roll shaft,drive said shaft in one or the other direction, the 'geared connectionbetween said rolls driving the top roll.

Should it be necessary to quickly release the clothing operated uponwinds about one or the other rolls or should it happen t-hat one hand ofthe operator becomes caught therein, it is only necessary to actuate thehandle 54 to bring the foot into Vregister with the keyhole 58 in thetop bar 13, when the tension of the springs will throw said leversupwardly about the pins 49, as an axis, permitting the springs to expandto their full height, instantly releasing the tension so that a space orseparation may be produced between the rolls and the clothing or handremoved therefrom. To reset the tension, the screws areunscrewed so thatthe lever plates 46447 may again bear throughout their length upon thetop bar 13 and the handle 54, actuated to bring the toe 56 of the footinto that position shown in Fig. 7 wherein said lever plates are lockedto ,the top bar. The thumb screws 45 are again threaded through the saidlever plates Vto apply pressureto the rolls as before described.

o A reversible water board 60, is provided l beneath the bottom roll,saidV board having ears 61 at its ends, which are pivoted `on a rod 62Vextending the full length of the frame 10 near its bottom. Leaf springs63.

secured to said board and engaging said 1f rod, hold the board in eitherposition so that the water expressed from'the clothes may be diverted ineither direction as it is desired.

lt is apparent from the foregoing de 1 the tension on the wringer rolls,as when script-ion that the improved vwri-nger yhas m'any advantages.'Thetensionfon both ends of the wringer rolls may be instantly andsimultaneously released. As the tension is applied near the outerpivoted ends or' the lever plates, it is not absolutely necessary tofully unscrew the tension screws when resetting the lever plates i6-47,unless desired, because said plates provide the long leverage requiredto bear down on the adjoining ends of said lever plates, against theaction of the springs 42, to bring them into a position wherein they mayagain be locked to the top bar.

The bottom bar and upright standards are all or' metal providing astrong construction which is not affected by the water expressed fromthe clothes being operated upon. rlhe wringer consists of but a fewparts which may be quickly and easily assembled by operators who neednot be necessarily skilled in this line.

vWhile in describing my invention, I have referred to certain details ofmechanical construction and arrangement of parts, I do not wish to belimited thereto except as is pointed out in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention l. In a clothes wringer, the combination of aframe having upright end standards, ya bar connecting the top ends ofsaid stand ards, wringer rolls journaled in said standards, spring meanstherein providing a ten sion for said rolls, a two part device engagingon the top of said top bar, pressure screws threaded through each ofsaid device parts for imparting a tension to said spring means, andmeans carried by one of said device parts for locking and unlocking bothparts of said device to and from said bar connecting the top ends of thestandards together.

2. In a clothes wringer, the combination'ot a frame having upright endstandards, a cross bar connecting the top ends of said standards,wringer rolls journaled in said end standards, spring means thereinproviding a tension for said rolls, leverplates normally engaging onsaid top cross bar, said plates being pivoted at their outer ends tosaid standards to swing about a horizontal axis at right angles to saidwringer rolls, the inner ends of said lever plates meeting at the middleof the cross bar, pressure screws threaded through said lever plates forimparting tension to said spring means, and means carried by the innerend of one ot said plates 'for locking and unlocking' the inner ends01"' both lever plates to and from said top cross bar.

3. In a clothes wringer, the combination of a trame having upright endstandards, a bar connecting the top ends of said standards, wringerrolls journaled in said end standards, spring means therein providing atension for said rolls, lever plates pivoted `to saidstandardstoswingabout a horizontal .axis at right angles 4to said'wringenroll'm one of said llever plates having lugs which overhang theother lever plate, pressure screws threaded through said lever platesnear their pivoted ends, for imparting ltension to ysaid' spring, means,and a "handle actuated locking member associated with said lever platehaving said lugs for locking and unlocking the inner ends of both leverplates to said top cross bar.

4. In a clothes wringer, the combination of a frame having upright endstandards, a bar connecting the top ends of said standards, said barhaving a keyhole opening therein near its middle, wringer rollsjournaled in said end standards, spring means therein providing atension for said rolls, lever plates pivoted t0 said standards to swingabout a horizontal axis at right angles to said-wringer rolls, one ofsaid lever plates having lugs at its inner end which overhang theadjoining end of the other'lever plate, pressure screws threaded throughsaid lever plates for imparting tension to said spring means, a lockingfoot, including a. toe, carried by that lever plate having theoverhanging lugs, said foot being adapted to extend through said keyholeopening and to be rotated into. and out of registering positions withreference to said keyhole opening', and a handle also carried by saidlever plate for actuating said locking foot.

5. In a clothes wringer, the combination of upright hollow endstandards, each divided into inner .and outer compartments, top andbottom wringer roll shafts journaled in said standards, intel-meshinggears near the ends of said shafts arranged in said inner compartments,a pair of tension springs in each outer compartment, the springs of eachpair being larranged on opposite sides of each end of the top wringerroll shaft, means between said springs and the top wringer roll shaftfor transmitting the tension ot' the springs thereto, and screws forregulating the tension of said springs.

6. In a clothes wringer, the combination of a, U-shaped trame comprisingupright, hollow end standards and an integral bottom connecting bar,each standard being divided into inner and outer compartments, top andbottom wringer roll shafts journaled in said standards, intermeshinggears fixed on said shafts in each inner compartment, tension meansstraddli'ng the outer ends oit wringer roll shaft in each outercompartment, and screws associated with said tension means forregulating the tension thereof.

7. A tension device for the rolls of a clothes wringer comprising, aninverted U- shaped yoke having outward extensions at the topY the,Vbottom end thereof, upright rods earas my invention, I `affix mysignature/in the red by each extension, a cross bur sldabe presence oftWQ Witnesses, this 13th day of 10 on` the othelr denolsof sadfrod, andYn* ex February, A D. 1920. V 'Y 3.1151011 CO1 e S rll'lo SIUYOUIIC 1neac I'O I y Y Y 5 between said eross br and the exgtenso'n on THOMASMARS- the` bottom end of said inverted U-shaped Witnesses: yoke. 1 r. y,y T. HALFREDS, In testimony that I Aclaim the foregoing EDITH A.BREEZE.

